Main menu

You are here

Psychological & Brain Sciences BS

The Psychological & Brain Sciences (PBS BS) major is designed to guide students though the requirements of a Bachelor of Science degree. Admission to the full PBS BS major leading to the B.S. is contingent upon meeting the Pre-Major requirements. Students do not have to be declared Pre-PBS BS students before they can request to have full PBS BS major status.

Declaring as PBS BS informs the Office of the Registrar - which manages course enrollment on GOLD - and the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences (PBS) - which manages PSY courses - of a student’s intention to join the full major. PBS BS standing will give students first priority registration in Pass 1 and Pass 2 on GOLD for PSY courses.

In order to earn full PBS BS status and enroll in PSY 110+ courses, students must submit Change of Major paperwork to PBS. If eligible, this paperwork will be processed by PBS and forwarded to the Office of the Registrar where a student’s major standing will be updated on GOLD. This process typically takes about 10 working days.

By using the tabs to the left and the PDFs to the right, students will find all the information and petitions needed to move through their major requirements and assist with course selection throughout their academic career.

Note: Transfer students may take the equivalencies of PSY 1, MATH 34A (3A), PSTAT 5A, and CHEM 1A or 2A, CHEM 1B or 2B, MCDB 1A or 6, and EEMB 2 or 7 prior to arrival at UCSB. However, transfer students must take PSY 10A & 10B at UCSB to qualify for the full PBS BS major. Classes taken at the community college level are accepted if approved by Assist.org, but grades from community college classes will not be calculated into the UC GPA for full major qualification. If a student transfers from a non-CA community college, then the course must be evaluated by UCSB PBS faculty for UCSB PBS credit.

The statistics requirement can be satisfied by: PSY 5 or COMM 87. It is important to understand only one statistics class will count towards the major. For anyone attempting a legal repeat, they must repeat the same course title they originally attempted. For instance, PSTAT 5 cannot be replaced with PSY 5.*Note: PSY 5 is discontinuing in AY 17-18 and students are encouraged to take PSTAT 5.

Upon completion of PSY 1, students in the Pre-Major may begin making progress toward their upper-division requirements by taking the PSY courses numbered 100-109. We recommend only students with sophomore standing or higher take advantage of this opportunity.

Students that transferred into UCSB should plan to work on PSY 100-109 courses in their first and second quarter at UCSB while they are not yet eligible to enroll in PSY 110+ courses on GOLD.

Students should submit Change of Major paperwork during the quarter in which they are enrolled in their last Pre-Major course(s). Although paperwork cannot be processed before final grades are posted, this is a step we recommend to ensure student major status is updated as quickly as possible. The department cannot “rush” petitions.

*Special Note for Transfer Pre-Psychological & Brain Sciences Students
Advisors recommend that Pre-PBS BS transfer students start the Pre-PBS BS major with complete series from their transfer institution. Please complete the full CHEM and BIO series at your local institution if you can as this helps transfer students pursing the full PBS B.S. stay on time to degree and focus on upper divisions while at UCSB! Transfer Pre-PBS students are highly encouraged to review the schedule planning tools under “course information” and consult with an Advisor prior to attending UCSB to understand the requirements of the degree.